The present invention relates to medical analytics, and more specifically, to medical analytics as related to assessing cancer survivorship risk.
Upon a diagnosis of breast cancer, especially when the tumor or tumors are nonpalpable or small, surgeons, oncologists, and nurses often tell the patient that putting off therapy (e.g., surgery or chemotherapy) by a month or two does not have an appreciable impact on long-term survival. As noted in R. J. Bleicher et al., “Preoperative delays in the US Medicare population with breast cancer,” Journal of Clinical Oncology, 30(36):4485-4492, 2012, expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes, the time from diagnosis of breast cancer to initiation of therapy has risen steadily over the last 20 years. However, recent studies suggest that putting off therapy does in fact reduce a patient's survival probability. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an estimate of the risk associated with delaying therapy when given presenting cancer characteristics and other variables, such as, for example, size of tumor, protein receptor status, single or multi-focality, and age of patient.